


The ANBU in the Mongoose mask

by purplefox



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 04:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8432614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplefox/pseuds/purplefox
Summary: In one form or another he was always by her side





	

**Author's Note:**

> Lol I'm so in love with my own headcanon lol. 
> 
> Of course in this one I have something else I was thinking about. I refuse to believe that you can have everyone on the same continent and surrounding areas speak the exact same damn language. There is bound to be dialect, different ways of bastardizing the language, different accents different curse words (I know what I'm alking about here lol) etc etc. Especially if you are a little isolated from others like shinobi villages tend to be. That's yet another thing I've been thinking about in the shinobi world, language. So excuse me having fun with this over here lol.

Whenever she was escorted back to her old village to visit her relatives the same ANBU guarded her. There were others of course but Kushina found herself always looking for the one in the Mongoose mask. She knew his chakra she even knew who he was outside of ANBU not like he admitted that.

He had saved her more than she wanted to admit and he watched over her since she had come to the village. He never spoke to her but she knew that she somehow amused the bastard. He never stopped her fights with others, sometimes it was like he was cheering her on.

The way he would stand politely next to her and ask her if she was done used to piss her off but now that she was a genin she found amusement in it too.

She saw a lot of him in and out of the mask and he was more familiar with her village than he wanted to admit. They were always together and he read her almost too well.

The lazy stance he took outside the village, the way his hair would just flow in the wind, if she did not know of him outside the mask she would swear that he did not care about anything or about appearances but she did know him outside the mask.

X

The pale fingers gently removed the black snake from her vision. Kushina blinked at the hand in confusion before she looked up in time to meet the mongoose mask. “What?”

“You were irritating it.” The soft voice said. “Best leave those kinds be. When annoyed, they tend to bite.” His head tilted and Kushina knew he was amused before he said a word. “You should be familiar with that feeling.”

_“Smug bastard.”_

_“Rightly so.”_ Was the perfect reply, perfect pronunciation and Kushina stilled even as she gaped at the man above her. _“What? Was I not supposed to understand?”_ He asked and she could hear the smug in his voice. _“I escort you so often, I’m here to keep you safe and comfortable. Why wouldn’t I pick up your ways?”_ It was weird to hear her accent, her words coming from someone many considered a pale, cold prince. “You learned our ways, it is only polite to do the same.” Kushina knew that she ended up staring for a few more moments until he patted her on the head and retreated back into the tree.

X

The Mongoose Masked ANBU disappeared when she started fighting in the war in earnest. In return she spent time with Orochimaru. Minato was constantly gone as well and although Kushina wanted to fight with him too she soaked up every moment she spent with Orochimaru.

Quick witted, sly he was everything he was not supposed to be and more. The new recruits had been scared stiff when they first met him. The man had taken that in stride and took them out anyway. Kushina had been resigned to the recruits’ stiffness until an early morning waist deep in a trench when Orochimaru had absentmindedly said a dirty joke.

He had laughed it off a few minutes later blaming his friends but Kushina had been unable to hide her smile. She knew Jiraiya’s jokes and as dirty as they went they tended to stick to sexual matters. She would have never thought a joke like that would have come from the Orochimaru so many spoke of.

But he was more than that.

X

She learnt that he might look frail but his body was all muscle later in the war. There had been no real warning before the explosion but he had still gotten to her anyway and covered her. It was when they were on the ground his body above hers as he tried to cover her head did she realize that he looked pale and weak but his body did not feel that way in the least.

Jiraiya and even Minato felt how they looked. She felt a little irritated at herself for trusting her eyes for so long after she had known the man for basically years. When the debris stopped shifting she moved her head only to find worried gold eyes looking down at her.

 _“Let’s get the bastards?”_ She asked.

His lips twitched but he stopped the smile before it could fully form. “We do owe them something just as annoying and uncomfortable.” He pointed out.

X

She was not being a pessimist she really did not think that he would come. She did not think that he would properly interact with her even if he did come. Even though over the years he had softened and properly talked to her.

Still she doubted he would come. Especially not after her reckless request. It had just slipped out and she had been just as shocked as he had been. He had politely declined and she feared that he would run from her because of that.

Still she was stubborn. She had simply removed that part from the program. He had been a part of her life for so long. Always watching, laughing and guiding her. Protecting her and listening to her. Who else would she want to walk her down the aisle and dance with her?

It was silly but she had wanted him by her side. But she knew how he played with secrecy. There were little secrets left between them of course but Orochimaru still had a façade to upkeep. She hated it.

X

He was such a sly sly bastard. Kushina tried to keep from laughing outright. In the corner ignoring his two teammates was Orochimaru but spinning her around on the dance floor for her second dance was the ANBU in the Mongoose mask.

She could not contain her laughter and as soon as she started she knew stopping would be impossible. Honestly. He was just impossible. With every spin and dip her eyes sought out Orochimaru in the corner ignoring them all as he sipped at his wine lazily.

And she was in the arms of the ANBU in the Mongoose mask. Her laughter bounced around the hall before the song ended. She chuckled when they bowed. She snickered when she was escorted back to Minato. She ignored the confused look on her husband’s face and turned to face the ANBU. “Thank you for making it.”

 _“After everything? It’s the least I could do. If this is the only thing you could want why not offer it?”_ Over the shoulder of the ANBU Kushina watched golden eyes glitter in her direction before a half smile lifted Orochimaru’s mouth.

 _“I hope you’ll continue to watch over me.”_ She smiled.

The ANBU took her hand then and Kushina watched curiously until he kissed her hand. Gasps filled the hall but she just laughed instead. _“Until the day you no longer require me to.”_ Her hand was gently dropped and the ANBU bowed to Minato, a half bow before he disappeared. Kushina burst into laughter again and ignored the confusion of her guests.

“Kushina? Who?” Minato was confused and curious as he glanced at where the ANBU had been.

“An old friend.” She smiled as Orochimaru lifted his glass to toast her. “An old friend.”


End file.
